From: Northern Côtes du Rhône, France
Varietal: Syrah
Taste: This wine presents super bright red fruit flavors with abundant raspberry coulis and a touch of herbs de Provence spice. It is light and fine on the palate, with soft, powdery tannins. The well-balanced profile, achieved through dynamic fermentations with natural yeasts, showcases ripe tannins, a full body, and spicy notes. The concentrated and earthy palate is complemented by hints of spice and minerals, offering a lovely tension between acidity and tannins. With medium-plus body and a satisfying finish, this wine is fruity yet complex.
Pairing: You could easily pair this alongside dishes like beef stew, braised or grilled meats, grilled vegetables, Mediterranean fare, curries, and beloved weeknight fare like burgers and tacos (our fave, after all, this type of wine is meant to elevate a meal!). So, while we will happily get lamb gyro take-out to pair with this wine, we’re going to share a 5-star recipe for Grilled Lamb Kebabs With Smoky Peaches by John Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger for a 35 minute home-run, home-cooked pairing to this stunner.
This wine. ”With the purpose of ensuring very high standards to maintain superb quality for our Cornas wines, for our winemaking we handle separately grapes from our youngest vines (less than 10 years old) or those that come from terroirs which are trickier in difficult years. To this quantity that varies from one vintage to another, we add wine produced organically, which we buy from a terroir situated as close as possible to Cornas. It possesses the qualities of freshness we seek and will blend coherently with the wine that comes from our youngest vines.”
2021 vintage notes. The 2021 vintage at Alain Voge winery faced a historical frost on April 8th after an unusually hot February, significantly affecting the vineyards in Saint-Péray and Cornas. In Saint-Péray, 50% of the crop was lost, leading to the production of only two wines: Harmonie and Fleur de Crussol, both of high quality due to the season's freshness. In Cornas, the slopes' yields nearly compensated for the frost losses. The rainy and late season resulted in a fresh, delicate, and smooth vintage with lower alcohol levels but balanced ripeness. The winery practices organic and biodynamic viticulture, with wines maturing in barrels for over 12 months and reduced sulphite levels of 64 mg/ l. The 2016 vintage produced 20,290 bottles and 105 magnums.
Why we love it. Always beloved by the critics, Domaine Alain Voge is one of the last- and long-standing authentic values of Cornas. But if you’re looking for a wine to enjoy while his higher-end bottlings rest in your cellar, or simply trying to find a more affordable expression of traditional Northern Rhône Syrah, look no further than “Les Peyrouses.” For fractions less than his top bottlings, you’re hardly sacrificing anything: It comes from a combination of young vines in Cornas and a small parcel just right outside of the appellation. It’s an organic, granite-based, barrel-aged Syrah that is a perfect, affordable snapshot of this storied region.
